YORD TERNA

Yord Terna (3/10/1800 - 17/1/1891) was a Premier of The Dominion and also an historian, statesman and Democratic politician who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state of Diacria and at the national level. He was born in Cress and his father was a distinguished Naval officer, having served under Admiral Augustus Knapp. Yord studied history in Cress and then went to Germany where he studied literature and languages at the universities of Goettingen and Berlin. He entered politics in 1846 as an MP for Cress. He served as Minister of the Navy in Shenet Terfel's cabinet and in 1870 was voted President of the National Party. He served as Premier after the 1874 elections, as the conservatives had a majority in the Upper House, but his tenure lasted only for a couple of years. During his presidency he passed several laws for Education and established several high schools around the island. After his resignation in 1876 he went into private life, often attacking Louis Degeer, describing him as, "without brains," and "ignorant, self-willed, and... surrounded by men some of whom are almost as ignorant as himself."  When Degeer resigned for the last time in 1879, he was considered as a most popular man to form a new Government, but refused (so Harry Sheldon was favoured instead).